Attitudes of Community College Developmental Students toward Mathematics and Their Perception of Mathematically Intensive Careers
Year: 2010
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study investigated the attitudes toward mathematics of developmental students in six community colleges from a large Midwestern state in the United States.The perception of the students regarding mathematically intensive careers was also analyzed.A Web-based survey was conducted during the winter and spring of 2009.Two colleges were selected to represent each of the locale characterizations-rural, suburban, and urban.Student attitudes toward mathematics were measured using seven of the nine domains of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales (FSMAS).Three additional questions were used to gauge perceptions of mathematically intensive careers.These three questions elicited perception in terms of importance, reward, and the intention of pursuing a mathematically intensive career.The study found that generally community college developmental mathematics students showed fairly positive attitudes toward mathematics.The domains in which they showed highly positive attitudes were male domain and success; and slightly positive attitudes in teacher and usefulness.However, their attitudes were indifferent or mixed with regard to confidence, anxiety, and motivation.There was no statistically significant difference in the attitudes of developmental mathematics students in community colleges nce?
Author: Godwin Dogbey
Institution: Ohio University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W146939492